Many people chose to start a diet at the beginning of the week but Monday may not be the best day to do it, research suggests

But kicking off an exercise regime and diet on a Monday is almost certainly setting yourself up to fail.

After a weekend of binging your guilty conscience kicks in and you think to yourself ‘I must start eating healthier’ – but Monday is not the day to cut back on calories and staring hitting the gym, according to new research published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition.

Researchers looked at two groups of people from Finland and found that we tend to eat more meat on Saturdays and Sundays, drank more alcohol and ate more carbs on Fridays and Saturdays.

But then Monday rolls around and we restrict ourselves to healthy snacks only for Friday to roll around and the booze and carb fest to start again.

Dietician Jaime Mass told Women’s Health the “I’ll get back on track on Monday” principle is a dangerous one.